Monthly Archives: September 2012

We are blessed to harbor our soul in this magnificent machine that we call our body. As science continues to dig deeper in explaining the synergies of the estimated 100 trillion cells working in unison with all the healing systems of this incredible machine, we find only more questions arising. Perhaps a true explanation will never appear, rather work in unison with this machine to nurture, heal, instruct, direct and thrive with.

‘Today, I call you to celebrate that wondrous creation of God that we call the “body.” We are divine and we are human, so why not enjoy being both? Perhaps, like me, your early religious upbringing made “the pleasures of the flesh” something sinful. It took years for me to honor my physical self rather than thinking of it as some kind of prison for my angelic soul. The body is a sacred temple in which the flame of our divinity shines forth. It is both a willing partner and reliable servant; it deserves appreciation and care. What monetary value can we place on the scent of a rose, the lovely richness of chocolate, or the caress of a cool breeze?

Some of us have bodies that are disabled or in pain, and perhaps these conditions make it more challenging to rejoice in physical manifestation. Challenging, but not impossible. Years ago, Helen Keller proved that the human spirit is stronger than physical limitations. The actor Christopher Reeves became a real “Superman” after his riding accident paralyzed him. Their bodies became demonstrations of our power to draw upon an infinite source of life.

Rabbi Abraham Kook said, “Taste and see that God is good.” Our senses are not merely conduits for the brain’s organizing capacity. They are sacred gifts that allow us to savor the presence of God through touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight.’

The Church says: The body is a sin. Science says: The body is a machine. Advertising says: The body is a business. The Body says: I am a FIESTA!

This story came to me, courtesy of my dear friend Joe M. in Palm Springs, CA. It perhaps, may be one that has been seen before via the internet. Regardless, it brought tears to my eyes on the magnificence of life and how everything is powered by Love:

One day, a man saw an old lady stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes Benz and got out. His old Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with a smile on his face, she was worried. She held her non-functioning cell phone in hand, it was in pieces after she had dropped it stepping out of her sedan earlier. But she didn’t want this approaching man to know this, just in case….No one had stopped to help her for the past hour! Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look threatening; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said “I’m here to help you Ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.”

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack. It was a very large and new smelling car, and he skinned his knuckles a time or two, breathing heavy as he jacked up the even heavier car. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, the window dropped down and she began to talk to him. She told him that she was from Chicago and was only just passing through. She didn’t want him to know that she couldn’t figure out the confusing navigation system in her car, as she normally didn’t “drive”. Why didn’t she just bring a gosh-darn map? She had gotten lost and wound up on this desolate road when the tire went flat. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as the trunk closed automatically. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added ‘And think of me…’

He gave her directions to get back on the interstate, and he waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan…

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went into the back to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. The she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her astounded eyes when she read what the lady wrote: ‘You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too…Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let the chain of love end with you.’

Under the napkin there were 9 more $100 bills. Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed? With the baby due in weeks, it was going to be hard…

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, ‘Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.’…

The rain pours on every seed and does not wait to see which daffodils make use of the gift. The rain moves on to other buried treasures, other hills, other gardens below the earth waiting for love. We really never know who receives our gifts.

Tama Kieves, who has spent more than a decade helping clients turn their passions into careers, believes that with crumbling economies and disappearing jobs, our concepts about conventional career success are falling away. Kieves states, “We’re not here just to make it in the existing world; we’re here to heal the world, to bring our expression to it, to remake the world. We are now being asked to go beyond linear success to inspired success. It’s a time of listening to your inner voice, which is unlimited, and remembering that you don’t have finite resources, you have infinite capacities when you connect with your inspired self.”

I LOVE this lady! I by chance read about her as I was going through my cancer treatment recovery, and she has and continues to inspire me with her awesome, direct-to-the-heart, witty and often very funny writing. She is a guide and muse of mine in how to connect with the Inspired Self.

Tama’s own story is one of abandoning what society would classify as a successful career as a Harvard trained lawyer that worked for a high powered NY law firm, and following her heart to become an internationally recognized author, speaker, and career coach. “When I grew up, I knew that I wanted to write, but the message I received was that all creative people starve and take drugs. As a big-deal lawyer, I was starving spiritually, and I wanted to take drugs! Then I heard this whisper of the Divine, this tempting notion of everything I was meant to be, but fear rushed in, posing as ‘practicality.’ I realize now that our work is to stop listening to the negative messages of what isn’t possible or what you can’t do. When we do, we can hear our own mojo-inspired voice. Start listening to the evolving genius inside of you. If it feels to good to be true, that’s how you know it’s true. That’s how much God loves you.”

Tama’s second book was just released last week by the title of Inspired and Unstoppable-Wildly Succeeding in Your Life’s Work! In the first chapter of this book, titled “Owning Your Inspired Power,” Kieves writes that when we are not using our deepest gifts, we can feel like a trout thrashing about on a dock desperate to find water. She continues in her book, “It’s that necessary to live our calling. It’s eventually unbearable to deny our love, strength, and essence. We’ve said ‘yes’ to some sacred arrangement in the ethers and here on earth – until we live our most meaningful dream – we ache with the pangs of blessings unfulfilled. We can golf if we want to, but it will never fill that hole. We can shop, but we can’t buy our freedom. We can even hire a ‘life coach,’ but then, and I hate this part, we still have to to do our life.”

Connecting with the inspired self is as easy as following our desire. Kieves states, “When you are inspired, you are unstoppable. This is a spiritual calling. The question to ask is ‘Am I listening to love or am I listening to fear?’ A lot of people think that when you follow your bliss, no difficulties will come up. Fears do come up, doors do slam, but the things that are in your way ARE your way. They are your dharma assignments. Those circumstances are designed to help stoke your fire, faith and creativity.”

“You have to find a way to be an unstoppable warrior of love in the face of fluctuating circumstances. Stay excellent and available. Do not let the momentary glimpse of what is not happening get in the way of what you are meant to do. Trust your destiny more than your circumstances. When I first published my first book This Time I Dance!, I so wanted it to succeed. I’d go by Barnes and Noble to see if they still had it on the shelves, or I’d feel bad seeing another author’s splash success. Finally, I realized that I was focusing more on my fear of failing than I was on my desire to succeed. I was focused on what wasn’t working. I had to train myself to focus only on what was working and celebrate the ways I was moving forward in my dreams. Let circumstances fluctuate, but not your faith. There are infinite opportunities for the Infinite in you.”

In her new book, Tama talks about the importance of “marrying your dream.” She explains the concept this way: “This is a path of the deepest and most alive commitment. You are in this for the long haul; this isn’t a quickie. A lot of entrepreneurs who don’t find success immediately lose faith and courage. They are looking for instantaneous success so much that they deny themselves their ultimate success. One of the things I teach in the book is that time is love. I tell students and clients to get away from the idea of Chia Pet success: just add water and it sprouts this second. But you are going to heal, feel awe, and fly. I want you to know this brilliance in your lifetime. Dedicate yourself to what matters most. Don’t miss it. Time is love. I promise you, your success is a given. You will succeed in what you’re meant to do, if you give it devotion and time. And really, what else are you here for?”

In my humble opinion, this is one of the Woman of Our Times. Trust your current process, and apply my “BAT” principle mentioned in previous posts…..Belief, Acceptance and Trust. You will ultimately……THRIVE!!

If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.

-Thomas Edison

(This post was written with excerpts from the September 2012 “Science of Mind” magazine article and interview of Tama Keives written by Diane Marie Bishop)

Today’s writings come courtesy of Katherine Saux, RScP from Oakland, CA. Thank you Katherine, for helping each one us thrive that much better!

“Scientists now say that our planet generates a constant, deep thrum of noise. Not just noise, but rather a kind of music – “huge, swirling loops of sound” – that are so low that they can’t be heard by human ears. Apparently, we have sensitive equipment that is getting better at picking up what the scientists have named “Earth’s Hum,” but no one is getting closer to understanding how it is made or what it means. Isn’t that wonderful?

I enjoy the mystery of God’s Earth humming to itself, singing a deep harmonic tune that resonates in our ribcages and hearts even though our ears may hear nothing. Well, nothing but the roar of the ocean, the vibration of the wind, the sparkling notes of songbirds, the patter of rain on leaves, or the strange throb of silence in the desert.

In 1697, the poet William Congreve wrote, “Music has charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.” Something in us responds to music even if we can’t read a note of it. Have you ever joined a full-throated chant of Om in a group? Do you remember the incredible vibration that filled your body and the entire space with something otherworldly? I bet our beloved Earth sounds like that – God singing to Its creation like a mother to her newborn child.”

There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.